1. Field of the Invention
This application generally relates to cannon cartridges and more particularly to a cartridge assembly having multiple connected cases.
2. Brief description of the Related Art
Cannon cartridges, especially those designed for use in tank guns, are limited in the axial length which can be accommodated within the confines of the tank. This restriction limits the amount of propellant that can be utilized to propel a given projectile through the gun tube. Accordingly, there is a need for a cartridge design which extends the useful volume for containing propellant within the cartridge without lengthening the cartridge unit. One approach is to provide a portion of the propellant charge around the sabot of a penetrator projectile as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,220. This design makes use of the space between front and rear bourrelets to house a sequentially ignited booster charge However, the volume available for propellant is comparatively small. Another approach is to provide separate propellant and projectile components. In large artillery cannon designs, the propellant is loaded as separate canisters or bags behind the projectile. Thus the entire round to be fired consists of several unconnected components. This design has the advantage of being easily handled by those individuals loading the gun. This design also has the advantage that the total charge can be tailored to the target type and range on the spot. Such tailoring is not conventionally available lo lank guns.
Separate ammunition is also more time consuming to load than fixed ammunition. It has the additional disadvantage in that in order to unload an unfired round from the chamber of the gun, the operator must reach into the chamber, which may potentially be very hot, to retrieve the individual bags of propellant and the projectile.
Accordingly, there is a a continual need for a cartridge assembly for use in a large caliber tank gun which extends the propelling charge capacity. There is also a need for a cartridge assembly which permits on the spot selection of the propellant charge to be utilized depending on the target range and type. There is also a need for a cartridge assembly that is simple to load and permits retrieval of the round components easily by an individual operating the gun without reaching into the gun chamber to retrieve components.